Trump's and Rubio's Escalating Rhetoric Show a Cuban Invasion Could Be Imminent
President Donald Trump has intensified rhetoric against Cuba, pairing public threats of a military operation with a surge in U.S. surveillance flights off the island since February. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced fresh sanctions that target Cuba's economy and energy sector, while the island grapples with a worsening humanitarian crisis after losing Venezuelan oil supplies. Despite private assurances to Brazil’s Lula that an invasion is not planned, Trump has floated the idea of positioning an aircraft carrier just offshore, raising speculation of an "off‑distance" strike. Analysts say a full‑scale invasion remains unlikely, but the heightened pressure marks the most serious U.S. confrontation with Havana since the 1962 missile crisis.
FDA Cliffhanger: Will Marty Makary Stay or Go?
The FDA’s leadership is in flux as reports suggest President Trump may fire Commissioner Marty Makary, though the president has so far remained noncommittal. Makary, a Johns Hopkins physician, has overseen controversial moves on abortion pills, flavored vapes, and accelerated...
Iran, China and AI Collide in Trump's Legacy-Defining Week
President Trump’s week will intertwine three high‑stakes fronts: he has dismissed Iran’s one‑page peace proposal, keeping the Middle East conflict alive; he is heading to Beijing for a summit with Xi Jinping that could reshape U.S.–China trade and security ties;...
Trump Official Opens Door to Gas Tax Suspension
Energy Secretary Chris Wright told NBC’s Meet the Press that the Trump administration is "open" to suspending the 18.3‑cent federal gasoline tax as pump prices climb to $4.52 per gallon, the highest level in four years. The comment marks a...
Vance Meets Qatari Mediator as U.S. Awaits Peace Plan Response
U.S. Vice President Kamala Vance met Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdul Rahman al‑Thani in Washington as the White House awaits Iran’s reply to a one‑page memorandum of understanding aimed at ending the war and opening broader nuclear talks. Qatar, long a behind‑the‑scenes...
Canvas Outage Delays College Finals Across the Country
A cyberattack on Instructure’s Canvas learning platform caused a nationwide outage, forcing universities such as Penn State, Boise State and Mississippi State to cancel, postpone, or reschedule final exams. The breach exposed student names, email addresses, IDs and messages, and...
Trade Court Strikes Down Trump 10% Universal Tariffs
The U.S. Court of International Trade ruled that President Trump’s newly imposed 10% universal tariff, enacted under the unused Section 122 of the 1974 Trade Act, is illegal. The court issued a permanent injunction limited to the two small‑business plaintiffs, leaving...
OpenAI Makes Its Rival to Anthropic's Mythos More Widely Available to Cyber Defenders
OpenAI has launched a limited preview of GPT-5.5-Cyber, a less‑guarded version of its GPT-5.5 model, for vetted cyber‑defenders protecting critical infrastructure. Early testing shows the model performs on par with Anthropic’s Mythos in finding and exploiting software bugs, with Mythos...
Iran and U.S. Exchange Fire in Strait of Hormuz
On Thursday the United States and Iran exchanged fire in the Strait of Hormuz, with Iran launching missiles and drones at three U.S. destroyers and the U.S. responding by striking Iranian launch sites, command centers and intelligence nodes. CENTCOM reported...
Rubio Announces New Cuba Sanctions
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Thursday new sanctions targeting Cuba’s military‑industrial conglomerate GAESA, senior board member Ania Guillermina Lastres Morera, and the state‑owned mining firm Moa Nickel S.A. The measures implement President Trump’s May 1 executive order aimed at...
Trump's Mandatory ICE Detention Policy Struck Down in Appeals Court
A federal appeals court in the 11th Circuit struck down the Trump administration's mandatory ICE detention policy, which required all undocumented entrants to be held without bond. The ruling follows a wave of lower‑court decisions challenging the policy’s reinterpretation of...
Trump's Student Loan Limits Could Rock the Health Care Industry
The Trump administration’s 2025 tax bill caps federal student loans at $100,000 for graduate degrees and $200,000 for 11 professional programs, including medicine, pharmacy and dentistry, effective July 1. Median tuition at public medical schools ($298,000) and private schools ($408,000) far...
Corporate America Shrugging Off Economic Uncertainty as Earnings Deliver
Corporate America delivered a robust Q1 earnings season, with 84% of S&P 500 companies topping estimates—well above the five‑year average of 78%. Winners such as Uber, Disney, CVS Health and Novo Nordisk posted strong top‑line growth and raised guidance, while all...
Trump Optimistic as U.S. Awaits Iran's Response to Peace Framework
President Donald Trump said talks with Iran have been productive and expressed confidence a deal could be reached within days. The White House is awaiting Iran's response to a one‑page, 14‑point memorandum that would impose a moratorium on nuclear enrichment,...
AI Makes a Mess of Private Equity
AI’s rapid evolution is unsettling private‑equity deal modeling, especially for new investments. Executives at the Milken Global Conference describe exit‑multiple forecasts as a blindfolded dart‑throw, reflecting uncertainty across sectors, even those previously deemed AI‑resistant. While limited partners keep feeding dry‑powder...
Doctors' Growing AI Deepfakes Problem
AI-generated deepfake videos are impersonating physicians to market dubious supplements and medical devices, prompting the American Medical Association to call for new privacy and identity‑protection laws. States such as California and Pennsylvania are already moving toward disclosure mandates and bans...
New Frontier of AI Forces Trump's Heavy Hand
President Trump entered office promising an unfettered AI market, but 15 months later his administration is drafting an executive order that would make the White House the primary gatekeeper for the most powerful models. The plan includes a working group...
Scoop: Rep. Chuck Edwards Singled Out Young Female Aides for Special Attention
Rep. Chuck Edwards, a second‑term Democrat from North Carolina, is under a House Ethics Committee investigation after multiple sources reported inappropriate conduct toward two young female staffers. The allegations include a handwritten love letter, personal gifts, and a Las Vegas vacation...
AI Godfather Yann LeCun's Advice on College, Work and Breaking Through AI Hype
Yann LeCun, the Turing‑award‑winning AI pioneer, cautions that AI doom narratives are inflating fear among teens and distorting public policy. He argues CEOs of AI labs exaggerate risks to sell products, and that the claim AI will wipe out 20% of...
Exclusive: Kalshi Announces Steps to Keep Kids Off Prediction Market
Kalshi announced a suite of new safeguards aimed at keeping minors off its prediction‑market platform, including mandatory facial‑recognition checks, selfie verification for high‑risk users, two‑factor authentication, and login‑alert tools. The company also plans to suggest personalized deposit limits when it...
A Closed Strait of Hormuz Was Once Unthinkable
Energy planners have historically dismissed a full closure of the Strait of Hormuz as implausible, a view reflected in 2007 and 2022 scenario exercises that omitted the extreme event. Recent disruptions, however, have forced executives like TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanné...
Scoop: Dems' Foreign Policy Group Prepping for 2028
Senior Democrats are reviving National Security Action (NSA), the foreign‑policy think‑tank that helped shape the party’s 2020 messaging and staffed President Biden’s national‑security team. Maher Bitar, former senior adviser to Sen. Adam Schiff and NSC intelligence coordinator, will lead the...
Trump Says New Strikes Possible if Iran "Misbehaves"
President Donald Trump warned that he could order new military strikes against Iran if the regime "misbehaves," even as both sides exchange drafts of a 14‑point framework to end hostilities. The Iranian proposal sets a one‑month deadline to negotiate reopening...
AI Is Changing How We Write and Speak
Researchers at USC and the Max‑Planck Institute found that large language models are nudging writers toward a narrower, more uniform style. After ChatGPT’s launch, sentence structure and vocabulary diversity fell sharply across scientific papers, news articles and social media. The...
Iran Offers New Response on Draft Peace Deal, Trump "Not Satisfied"
Iran delivered a diplomatic response to the latest U.S. amendments to the draft peace plan via Pakistani mediators. President Trump said he was not satisfied, describing Iran’s leadership as disjointed and questioning the feasibility of a deal. The U.S. amendments...
AI Just Killed Your Last Excuse for Not Starting a Business
Artificial intelligence has turned startup formation into a weekend project, eliminating the traditional need for costly legal, design, and research teams. In March 2026, 580,612 new businesses were registered—a 14% year‑over‑year rise—and solo‑founder ventures now represent 36.3% of startups, up...
Pentagon Calls Timeout on War Powers
Senate Republicans are pressing the Trump administration for a formal explanation of how it is applying the War Powers Act’s 60‑day clock to the ongoing military campaign against Iran, which began with strikes on Feb. 28. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth...
What a Weakened Voting Rights Act Means in Today's America
The Supreme Court’s Louisiana v. Callais decision narrows Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, curbing federal oversight of racially discriminatory gerrymandering. The ruling arrives as the United States has become far more diverse—white share has dropped from about 85% in...
AI Labs Can't Stop Leapfrogging Each Other
The AI landscape is in constant flux, with market leaders swapping places every few months. OpenAI’s early dominance with ChatGPT was challenged by Google’s Gemini models, then overtaken by Anthropic’s enterprise revenue surge, only for OpenAI to rebound with GPT‑5.5...
Exclusive: Data Center Firm Inks Carbon Removal Deal as AI Demand Surges
NTT Data, a global data‑center operator, has signed a carbon‑removal agreement with Swiss startup Climeworks, marking the first such deal for a major AI infrastructure company. The partnership could deliver several hundred thousand tons of CO₂ removal over a decade,...
Scoop: White House Workshops Plan to Bring Back Anthropic
The White House is drafting an executive action that would let federal agencies bypass the supply‑chain risk label placed on Anthropic, opening the door to its newest model, Mythos. Senior officials, including Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and Treasury Secretary...
Senate Rejects Curb on Trump Military Action in Cuba
The Senate voted 51-47 to block a resolution that would have required congressional approval before any U.S. military action against Cuba. The measure failed despite bipartisan support from Republicans Susan Collins and Rand Paul, with only Democrat John Fetterman opposing...
Exclusive: OpenAI, Anthropic Meet with House Homeland Security Behind Closed Doors on Cyber Threats
OpenAI and Anthropic briefed the House Homeland Security Committee staff in classified sessions about their new cyber‑capable AI models—OpenAI’s tiered‑release GPT‑5.4‑Cyber and Anthropic’s Mythos Preview, which remains unreleased due to exploit risks. Both firms are granting federal agencies direct access...
Trump Admin Revives COVID Origins Debate with Indictment
The Justice Department has indicted David Morens, a former senior adviser at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, on conspiracy and record‑tampering charges for allegedly deleting emails and routing communications to a personal account to hide information about...
How Carbon Removal Tech Is Adapting to Trump's Energy Agenda
The carbon removal sector is rebranding to fit President Trump’s energy‑dominance agenda, securing Department of Energy approval for two major hubs in Louisiana and Texas. Originally buoyed by Biden‑era climate laws, the industry endured a year‑long review and a pause...
Iran Offers U.S. Deal to Reopen Strait but Postpone Nuclear Talks
Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi offered the United States a deal to immediately reopen the Strait of Hormuz and extend the cease‑fire, while postponing nuclear negotiations to a later stage. The proposal was delivered through Pakistani mediators amid a stalemate...
Trump Lashes Out at "60 Minutes" For Asking About Gunman Manifesto Allegations
President Donald Trump lashed out at CBS journalist Norah O'Donnell during a "60 Minutes" interview, calling her "disgraceful" after she asked about alleged references to him in the White House Correspondents' Dinner shooter’s manifesto. Trump denied any connection to the...
The Pope Moves to Police AI
The Vatican is rapidly establishing AI governance, issuing one of the first state‑level AI frameworks and formal guidelines that demand transparency, ethics, and human dignity. Pope Leo XIV has prohibited priests from using AI to write homilies or chase social‑media...
Scoop: GOP Called Howard Lutnick to Reverse Crypto PAC's Texas Move
A newly formed crypto super PAC, Fellowship PAC, indicated in an FEC filing that it intended to spend $1.75 million to back Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in the GOP primary runoff. Senior Republican officials called Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who recently...
Exclusive: OpenAI Briefs Feds and Five Eyes on New Cyber Product
OpenAI has begun briefing U.S. federal agencies, state governments, and Five Eyes allies on its new GPT‑5.4‑Cyber model, a large‑language‑model designed for advanced cybersecurity tasks. The company demonstrated the tool to about 50 cyber‑defense practitioners in Washington, D.C., and announced...
Hands-On with ChatGPT's Powerful New Image Engine
OpenAI rolled out ChatGPT Images 2.0, introducing a new "thinking" mode that adds built‑in reasoning for paid subscribers while keeping a standard version free for all. The update supports a broader set of aspect ratios and can produce personalized cards,...
Scoop: Trump Mulls Jones Act Waiver Extension to Lessen Iran War Oil Shock
President Trump issued a 60‑day waiver of the Jones Act on March 18 to alleviate oil‑shipping bottlenecks caused by the Iran conflict. The exemption has allowed 40 foreign‑flagged tankers to move roughly 9 million barrels of crude between U.S. ports, expanding...
Thune Nudges Trump to "Wrap Up" Fed Probe
Senate Majority Leader John Thune is urging the Trump administration to end the Department of Justice investigation into Fed Chair Jerome Powell so that Kevin Warsh can be confirmed as the next Fed chair. The confirmation is stalled because Senator...
Apple Enters Post-Cook Era Chasing Its Next Hit
Apple announced that longtime CEO Tim Cook will step down, handing the reins to hardware chief John Ternus while remaining as executive chairman. The transition also elevates chip architect Johny Srouji to chief hardware officer, signaling a focus on retaining...
Anthropic Bites Back in the Compute Wars with Amazon Partnership
Anthropic is deepening its alliance with Amazon, committing more than $100 billion over the next decade to secure up to 5 gigawatts of compute power for training and operating its Claude models. Amazon will front $5 billion immediately, with an option to add...
Trump's Energy Boss: Gas May Stay Above $3-per-Gallon Into 2027
U.S. average gasoline prices have hovered around $4 per gallon, with a recent high of $4.16, according to AAA data. Energy Secretary Chris Wright told CNN that prices likely peaked and could dip below $3 per gallon, but not until...
The Red State Gold Rush: Why some Lawmakers Are Pushing Precious Metals
A wave of legislation in several red states, led by Georgia, seeks to make gold and silver legal tender and to allow state‑level gold reserves. The proposals would let consumers pay with precious metals, potentially via prepaid debit cards offered...
Trump-Branded AI Data Center Megaproject Stalls, CEO Departs
The Trump‑branded Fermi America AI data center, billed as the world’s largest, stalled after CEO Toby Neugebauer abruptly departed, sending shares lower following a 75% decline over six months. The project still lacks an anchor hyperscaler tenant and faces cooling‑system...
"Digital Fantasy"; AI Hair, Makeup Put Perfection Further Out of Reach
AI-generated hair and makeup images are reshaping client expectations in the beauty industry. Stylists like Angelina Murphy and Gloss Beauty founder Mehry Schmitt report that up to half of bridal inspiration now originates from AI, creating unrealistic standards. Professionals must...
Iran Mediators Meet in Turkey to Discuss Peace Push
Foreign ministers from Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt and Saudi Arabia convened on the sidelines of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum to coordinate a third "quad" effort aimed at ending the U.S.-Iran war. Pakistan continues to act as the primary mediator, while Egypt...